Gujarat Titans’ captain Hardik Pandya saved his best for the last in the Indian Premier League. Pandya, who made a comeback to the cricketing arena this season, showed that he has back at his very best, picking up three wickets from his registered four overs in the final of the competition against Rajasthan Royals.
Follow IPL 2022 Final live
Sent to bowl first after losing the toss, Gujarat were put on the backfoot against Rajasthan after Indian youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal gave an intent filled start inside the powerplay overs. However, Gujarat did not take much time to get back into the game with Rashid Khan and Hardik Pandya operating in tandem. Pandya was especially impressive, bowling with a lot of aggression and picking the wickets of Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer, three of the most important batsmen in the opposition line-up.
The captain made good use of the extra bounce offered by the Ahmedabad deck and bowled hard lengths against Rajasthan. He got Buttler with a delivery that was bowled in the off stump channel, edging the Englishman back to the keeper. He dismissed Sanju Samson off a hard length ball, which the opposition captain mis-hit and then returned to deceive Shimron Hetmyer with a slower ball.
This had Rajasthan in complete shambles and put Gujarat at the top of the game. Barring his own bowling, he marshalled his troops to perfection. Under his leadership, R Sai Kishore got two wickets in the late overs and Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami and Yash Dayal got one each.
At the end of the 20 overs, Rajasthan Royals were restricted to 130 runs, something that seemed to be way below par in the Ahmedabad track.
Speaking at the break, Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan said that the wicket was very good to bowl and Gujarat reaped the rewards of keeping the plan simple.
“The wicket was pretty good to bowl, we bowled the right areas which was always important. I knew that the wicket was helping me and just bowled the right areas. I don’t have too many plans, just keep it simple for him (Buttler), if he goes after me, the chances of me getting his wicket is higher. We just wanted to be tight and put the pressure on him (on the game plan),” Rashid told the broadcasters.